I recently picked up an old Don The Beachcomber menu on eBay. It's the oldest one I've seen from DTB, probably dating to around 1945 or so. It has some great copy on it, including talk about how Don went through three cases of rum developing the Zombie, plus a full list of all of the rums in his infamous cellar.

I've been cleaning the menu up in Photoshop. No small feat, because the original had water stains, fading, tears, and a big crease down the middle where it was folded. Still, it's giving me a chance to break out Photoshop, which I always enjoy.

I have a few menus that I've acquired, including a Trader Vic's menu that I've previously posted about that no one had ever seen before, and as much as I enjoy having them I'd much rather share them. It seems to me that Tiki Central is a community that thrives on sharing. That's why I'm proposing a friendly challenge.

Once I have it cleaned up, I'm going to post a print-ready high res PDF of this menu for everyone to download and enjoy for free. If other people are willing to post some high-res (300 dpi or greater) printable files of items they have, then I'll share more of mine. I've got oodles of awesome matchbooks, plus a few vintage labels and such which I'm willing to share.

I'll also be happy to help people clean up their images for posting, including piecing together images from items that are too large to fit on a scanner. Just let me know.

What do you say, fellas? Anyone else want to get a little sharing party going?

Edit: Here's a preview of the menu, showing the original version and the one I'm cleaning up:

OK, I've got the menu all set. It's a very high-res file (600 dpi), which is more than you need for print but just right to zoom in and see the detail. It's a 57 MB file. Unfortunately, our home internet has been pretty much unusable for a few days so I may not be able to get it up for a day or two. Once I do, I'll post a link here and everyone is welcome to download it. All I ask is that you don't sell it, either in digital or printed form, since it defeats the whole purpose of trying to get this sharing thing going!

It's too big to print on a standard printer, but places like OfficeMax should be able to print it out for you. The final size is 11.623 inches high by 20 inches wide (10 when folded). Print it on matt cover stock. If you want to give it a vintage feel, print it on ivory stock.

ATP, good question. And no, it isn't the same as having the real deal in your hands. But these items often fetch a pretty penny, and not everyone has the funds to buy the originals. Of course the originals will still be a true piece of history and will have that value to collectors, but think of this as the next best thing. Also, for the more "academic" minded tikiphiles such as Sven, these items can help nail down details on the history that would be harder to answer otherwise.

Do you have some concern about making the reproductions available?
_________________"You can't eat real Polynesian food. It's the most horrible junk I've ever tasted." —Trader Vic Bergeron

Its a great alternative for projects and ideas where you wouldn't wanna mess up the real thing. People in the Home bar building section are often incorporating postcards and pictures in the bar tops and this would fit right in. I used old hawaiian record albums covers to cover the ceiling of my closet and could have just as easily used menu prints.. I can envision people using them creatively for lamp shades, getting it printed out on fabric for pillows or clothes...

On 2014-02-08 22:36, TikiTacky wrote:ATP, good question. And no, it isn't the same as having the real deal in your hands. But these items often fetch a pretty penny, and not everyone has the funds to buy the originals. Of course the originals will still be a true piece of history and will have that value to collectors, but think of this as the next best thing. Also, for the more "academic" minded tikiphiles such as Sven, these items can help nail down details on the history that would be harder to answer otherwise.

Do you have some concern about making the reproductions available?

The thought has occurred to me, that a shady type of person might capitalize
on access to these type of files, but at the same time making them available
to everyone does offer the history of such ephemera to people who might appreciate it for what it is?

Thanks for sharing. I have a large archive of images. I used to share a lot more, but my images began showing up on other people's site without crediting the source. Bugs me. I have watermarked all my images, and tried to do it in an unobtrusive way. Then the offender took the time to cover my watermark in Photoshop and use my image anyway! That bites! Just put "Image courtesy of Swank Pad."

Grumble.

I'll share if you do.

This particular menu is pretty common I'd say. A staple of the collections, though this example is a bit unique. I don't own it.
_________________Announcing Swank Pad and Crazy Al's Molokai Maiden!

I've seen the later version of this menu often. It lacks the border, as well as the text on the back and the list of rums from the cellar. I did an image search and a search here on TC, as well as Critiki and Arkiva Tropika, but could find this version.
_________________"You can't eat real Polynesian food. It's the most horrible junk I've ever tasted." —Trader Vic Bergeron

And because that menu was so awesome, here's a bonus link to a scan of a Don The Beachcomber match cover scanned at a luxurious 600 DPI: [link removed]
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T-shirts based on vintage tiki matchbooks: TikiTees